Month: April, 2012

Being residents of a fair sized city, it is a fact that one will develop favorites. Certain restaurants, stores, neighborhoods all become a part of your routine. One of our favorites emerged out of our love of historical areas, the Dallas Heritage Village just off of downtown Dallas. This was our second visit, after we really enjoyed the first visit last year. What is so cool about such an expansive place is how much each visit can reveal new things that are so cool.

From getting to fully explore the Blum Bros. General Store fully, to the Millermore House which was not open last year, and the MKT Depot. Yes, we are total history nerds, we can’t help being fascinated with other places and time periods. The day was perfect, the sun was out and Dallas was actually treating us well with Heritage Village and a trip to Cindi’s NY Delicatessen and Bakery. The latter being so worth it as well, because the first time when we went to Cindi’s, we were on a bread fast, so being able to sample the delicious corned beef on rye sandwich and the amazing dinner rolls that came with the chicken dinner. Also, entirely worth it are the pastries and sweet treats, such as the petites fours, for those of us with a sweet tooth.

So, again…we highly recommend Dallas Heritage Village, and Cindi’s, as a part of the best and underrated places to visit in DFW.

In the last few years, we have really wanted to attend Fort Worth’s Main St. Arts Festival, but it seemed that we always had other obligations. Bo had been telling me about it for years, and so this Sunday felt like the right time to slip in to the crowds in the afternoon and check out all the art, food and music. I was proud to see our fellow Fort Worthians out in force, as it gave me the chance to engage in some prime people watching, Bo & I’s favorite random activity. We really do love this city, and despite the wind, there is NOT a better way to spend a Sunday than walking downtown. So we braved the wind gusts, but without our Sunday downtown walking partner, Emory Holden, as the city ordinance for the festival prevented him from being around Main Street.

So, festival concluded, we rushed to pick the little guy up for a car ride, Curly’s hot dogs, strawberry custard with sprinkles and more of our sodas picked up in Arcadia at Pop’s. But despite our best efforts, a couple days later, Emory was still not satisfied…and took his anger out on an entire roll of toilet paper. And so the week began for our little Fort Worth family of three.

One of the greatest things about being married to one Heather Liles is how on such a regular basis she finds a veritable laundry list of cool and new (cheap & or free) things for us to check out. So whenever she tells me she has an idea for a day trip, I get really excited. I got even more curious when she suggested Oklahoma. We had talked about Tulsa, but until we started check into it, it was apparent that we had to check out Norman, OK and yes, Historic Route 66!

So, we collected our good friend Katie and headed north to Oklahoma by way of Denton Texas. Denton of course has history for myself, being a UNT grad and a few slightly unpleasant stops for us meant that there is only two things that could bring us back…the promise of donuts and coffee made wit love from friends at Jupiter House. Donuts came in the form a new place for us, Denton Square Donuts, which turned from excitement to disappointment when we discovered that midway through a Saturday morning they had run out (?) and had only a few puff pastries left (which was delicious!). Hopefully next time such a cool looking shop will have donuts for us to sample. Things got better for the coffee drinkers in the car when our talented/good friend Sarah made us perfect coffee at Jupiter House.

Arriving in Norman, we had one thing in mind, (seeing as Heather is a HUGE Walt Disney/all things Disney enthusiast)- the Century of Magic: The Animation of the Walt Disney Studios exhibit at the Fred Jones Museum at the University of Oklahoma. Such an amazing exhibit of animation cells from the entire history of Disney was so cool to experience together. From Alice in Wonderland to Lady In The Tramp to Robin Hood, a wonderfully curated set up in the best university museum we had ever toured. But Norman didn’t stop there! From the discovery (for next time) that Norman rents bicycles, to the surprisingly lovely and bountiful Anty Shanty Vintage, where some cool pieces came home with us. We really loved and took inspiration from what this store had to offer! There is a lot more to Norman than just OU football, and thank God for that.

Oklahoma City is a city that we were not as familiar with, and we crossed through it on a mission to find a store Heather had heard about, Bohemian Spirit Vintage. On the city’s north side, I must say it was quite the amazing collection of entire decades of vintage in a quaint shop. Entire period sets of movies could be dressed out of this store of mid century colors and patterns. But alas, our hearts were set on another stop: Route 66. New to all of us, we wished for a 60’s convertible (at least I did) and headed east to the one place that held a bit of mystery, a lone building with futuristic soda pop bottle of neon beckoning us.

Pops is amazing, from window displays of thousands of colored pop bottles to hundreds of different flavors to temp us. Soon enough, a dozen sodas with root beers and even bacon soda! Drinks in hand, Pop’s burgers were in order because why come to Route 66 and not have an American classic? Happiness ensued and soon enough the open road south back to the smooth roads of our beloved Texas called our names. With another stop at Jupiter House in Denton to have the amazing Courtney make one last coffee for the final push and one of the best and perfectly complete day trips ever came to a wonderful close.

One might not think about walls when describing the charms of any certain city. But here in our hometown of Fort Worth, we have found that one of the better ways to learn about the soul of our city is through its walls. From architectural details, to weathered bricks, to the many murals painted and plastered from city limit to city limit, you can learn about the town and the heart of the people that make Fort Worth our chosen home. It’s obvious we have a soft spot for odd and weirdly lovable walls, as many have shown up here on Lost In Drawers. (These wonderful murals were found on our way home from our BBQ dinner date. We noticed them right away and quickly u-turned to go explore them. Found at the Ties to the Past Antiques and Eclectics, which we have yet to go in to, so cant wait to see what’s inside because of how neat these are.)

Next time, look around…the best parts of Fort Worth are painted and standing all around.

We really do try and stay positive in our home and by extension, on Lost In Drawers. But can I just be honest and say that this week has been awful. Just plain awful. Even to the point of my mother taking the time to be completely honest with me during our daily phone calls, as it is apparent to her that Bo and I looked down and utterly exhausted when she saw us last weekend. Its true, we have been stressed to the point that at the worst of times it felt as if the walls of our life could cave in at any moment. And it is not just the idea of general stress, but all that goes with it. Sleep deprivation. Decreased nutrition. Mental exhaustion, or just exhaustion of every type. We needed a break from constant movement, tasks, lists, worry, the blues and did I mention stress? Something needed to happen, we needed relief.

With some but not too much guidance, Bo brought me home my absolute favorite drink in a ridiculously large size, we went shopping for dinner, made said dinner, went plant shopping and discovered the world of succulents (!) and generally relaxed with a nice Mosccato and the pitter patter of a certain Pomeranian. The effect was amazing. The weekend is practically here, and by the grace of God we made it and the promise of days away from the grinding routine of life has never been more welcome. Hello, road trip!

The lovely Molly Magill from the lovely blog Smmidge was so very kind enough to feature us in a fun and thoughtful Q & A, as a part of her Blogger Profile series. We enjoyed doing it so very much, and are so humbled and grateful to her for thinking of and including us. It’s really nice when an inspiring blogger comes across our little corner view of the world, and we get to meet and explore their world through such their own creative lens. So, please please go check out her always stylish and witty blog, as it’s quite grand!

Again, thanks to Molly and go explore Smmidge and follower her on Twitter!

There are certain things in life that are simply true. Lately, we have been going through quite a few difficult things and life can feel overwhelming. What is true is that when we are struggling, for us the best thing to do is to give. And it’s not like we are preaching to anyone other than ourselves, but its true for us that we feel at our best when giving. It is something that Heather has brought to our life, something we are cultivating, and hope will be something we pass on to future generations in our family. So, with that in mind, Heather decided that the best way to show some love is to make Strawberry Cream pies for people in our life that have impacted us in a special way. And the combination of the de-stressing tool of making the pies and the joy of delivering them has already made our week. And honestly, it really feels better to give. I think its started a trend in our house, to bake and to make and to give.

You know it’s going to be quite the Sunday when you wake up to a certain Pomeranian staring at you while perched atop his papa aka your husband. What a sight to see. Sundays when my parents are in town are always a great thing and yet it always includes a goodbye. But it does mean a day off to score some amazing vintage dresses that will be hemmed up so that we can find them a good home. It also meant spending some time at my parent’s hotel meant a chance to wear my new trench coat and take a stroll along the canal. It’s the simple things, folks. Speaking of simple pleasures, we ended the day with a patch of strawberry cream pies to give away! We have much to be grateful for, all of which this Sunday reminded us to be thankful and always giving.